K. Michael Ferranti along side Hindu Saddhus

About K. Michael Ferranti: A medically trained professional, integrating both eastern and western medical traditions for over a decade. A licensed allopathic, Physician Associate/Assistant for the past 15 years, after many years of practice, K. Michael realized that he wanted to concentrate on the inner healing of his patients and felt a strong link between the “diseased” physical body with the imbalances of the mind and spiritual bodies. There was a symbiotic relationship between them. So, being frustrated with the restrictions of western medicine, K. Michael was in search of a real immersive, traditional Ayurvedic program in the US. This lead him to The Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, in Lenox, Massachusetts. He attended the first class of The Kripalu School of Ayurveda, an 18 month comprehensive Ayurvedic Medical training. Highlights of his Ayurvedic gurukula education included being taught by great Ayurvedic vidyas (Ayurvedic teachers) such as Dr. Vasant Lad, Dr. John Douillard, Dr. Robert Svoboda, Dr. Shekar Annambhotla, Dr. Jay Apte, and Dr. Sunil Joshi.

In March 2007, K. Michael studied in India with world renowned Ayurvedic Physician, Dr. Partap Chauhan at Jiva Ayurvedic Institute, completing course work on ‘Ayurveda and Incurable Diseases.’ At the Jiva Institute, he learned the interconnection between the body, mind, and spirit and how they affect the disease process. Concentrating on the emotional and spiritual bodies to heal the physical body, “Dr.Chauhan taught us the ways to heal “chronic, incurable diseases”, focusing on various Ayurvedic healing modalities, such as herbal preparations, lifestyle and diet recommendations, herbalized massage, panchakarma (detoxifying and cleansing treatments), yogic and breathing techniques, and developing a connection to your spiritual body”.

His introduction to a life of spiritual growth and enlightenment started as a very young child. Thanks to his parents, he was initiated with a mantra into the Transcendental Meditation (TM) movement by the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi at age 6. Then when he was a young adult, K. Michael volunteered as a missionary in Russia, as he was invited there by the Patriarch of Moscow. Travelling around Russia, he taught the New Testament, in small villages where religion was forbidden by the Communist government. “My heart was awakened while witnessing these suppressed people with such an eagerness to have spirituality in their bleak lives. The year was 1991, I witnessed the fall of Communism. This experience was paramount to my spiritual journey. Studying the Bhagavad-Gita and being Krishna conscious at a young age, spiritual growth through various Vedic texts, Buddhist Eastern thought, and Christian mysticism became central to my life. Since I was young, I was always in search of my “truth” and found solace in finding it through the development of my spiritual body, knowing I needed to detach from the attachment of the material world.”

Receiving Darsan from Amma Ji

LM: Western medicine generally relies on established scientific authority. What is the source of authority in Ayurveda?

KMF: Ayurveda, being the oldest, most traditional form of “medicine” as we know it today, relies on our instinctual insight to heal ourselves with the gifts of Mother Earth, that have been used for centuries and taught to many other cultures and civilizations by the Indians. If one consciously trusts in the power of self-healing and surrenders the power over to themselves to heal, then the healing process will naturally start the transformational process of homeostasis (bringing the body to a healthy state). The body does not like being sick, injured, imbalanced, or in pain. The plant kingdom that Mother Earth has blessed us with to sustain life, has a vibrational healing energy, that cannot be duplicated by a “lab tested” small white pill, produced in a cold lab somewhere, or one in which Western culture has become addicted to. Especially when it comes to herbal therapies, not only do the herbs receive the energy of the Mother Earth and the Sun feeding it, but the people harvesting and preparing the herbs are praying over the herbs, infusing them with a lot of heart grounded loving energy, to maximize their healing effect, even before being ingested. Therefore, the source of authority in Ayurveda is [Read more →]